Rwanda: Centre by Centre, Ishyo

Student: What are we to do about the state of the world?
Teacher: What are you calling the world?
Zen Koan

Every morning at Center Christus. Birds.. Lauryn insists this one kind of bird is laughing at us .Birds and then the mass. I did not go this year, but from last year I remember music – everyone in the room is singing – and the priest will be speaking and as he exhales his last word, someone in the room will have started singing softly. And then more and then harmony and then the song will be in the room around you everywhere around you. And then fade out again and the preacher will be speaking. Bread and wine and music.And the birds. This is morning.

Today is the first day of our festival. Centre by Centre. The idea is an annual international performance festival on arts and social justice. The idea is an annual international performance festival in the local context of Rwanda (and hopefully later Uganda). So, spending time learning about the history and the culture, allowing ourselves to be transformed, and then to perform the work in a deeper conversation with the place and so each other. At least, that’s the language that’s going around. Sounds good to me.

Today is the first day of Centre by Centre and we meet in Ishyo. Ishyo is a performance space and cultural center run by Carole Karemera. She’s a Rwandan artist who trained and performed for some time in Belgium and has returned to do cultural work in Kigali. She opened Ishyo in 2008. She has a dance-theater company, her facility hosts workshops, and she also brings a bus/library to the schools for kamikaze theater, where performers act out different children’s books in English and French to promote tri-lingual literacy. (Besides from Kinyarwandan, the whole country has also been French speaking but recently switched to English speaking partly due to access with the global market and partly due to tension over the French involvement in the genocide.)

Ishyo is on top of a hill. It has a wooden stage in a deep, auditorium that seats maybe 300 people? I’m a bad judge of these things. It has also three rehearsal/workshop rooms with bright white walls and cement floors painted silver. A basketball court where a dance floor is sometimes rolled out. A bar and restaurant with an outdoor patio that can also be used as a performance space. It’s a great facility.

Today is the first day of Centre by Centre and it begins with workshops taught by members of Theater of Yugen. Norm Mundoz teaches Phillipine dance and Jubilith Moore teaches some basic singing and dance and dramaturgy of Noh theater. After both workshops, we see dancers practicing and then adapting movements that have learned. Exchange is in process.

Today is the first day of Centre by Centre and in the evening we have performances, including: music, poetry, a short Noh performance by Jubilith, two pieces from Carole’s group Ishyo - on real estate and African representation by non-Africans, and a performance in Kinyarwandan of The Monument by Isoko. The event is lively and diverse. My favorite moment is when two American string musicians, Nancy Usher and her daughter Alessandra, performed with a Rwandan woman musician playing an instrument usually performed by men. She sang as she played, a deep voice that felt totally free.

Today is made possible by the generous and gracious support of Cal Watson. Thank you, Cal!